WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security is poised to sell or transfer a group of empty warehouses intended to hold immigrants caught in the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.
In a sharp reversal, the department intends to sell seven Immigration and Customs Enforcement warehouses or transfer them to other federal agencies, according to The New York Times. The agency did not deny the newspaper’s reporting.
One of those sites is a warehouse in Roxbury, about 46 miles west of Manhattan in Morris County. The administration paid $130 million, roughly double market value, in the spring for the vacant building along Route 46. It was owned bythe investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and a Texas real-estate company.
Spokespeople for DHS and ICE did not respond immediately to requests for comment from NJ Spotlight News. The switch comes under Markwayne Mullin, the new Homeland Security secretary, who has said he would like Homeland Security to be quieter about how it implements immigration enforcement.
Rep. Rob Menendez (D-8th) said Thursday evening that his office was working to confirm a potential sale or transfer.
“From day one, we fought to stop this facility, bringing together thousands of New Jerseyans in opposition. Now we are on the cusp of an important win for our state,” Menendez said.
‘We don’t want this’
Plans to use the former shipping and logistics depot to house humans drew bipartisan blowback in Congress and from local elected officials.
Residents at a township meeting in February criticized the council, all Republicans, for not sufficiently working to block the sale of the 470,000-square foot building.
“There’s a big difference between saying, ‘We don’t want this’ and saying ‘We’re going to make it harder for you,’” said Adam McGovern of Parsippany, a resident who urged Roxbury officials to “slap back” at the U.S. government.
Local officials and residents said they were worried that an influx of detainees would overload the area’s sewer, electrical and medical systems. The warehouse is in the environmentally sensitive Highlands region, which supplies clean water.
New Jersey and Roxbury sued to block the administration’s use of the warehouse, arguing the permitting process had been rushed or altogether ignored.
In a joint statement, Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport called the agency’s changed plans a “big win” for safety, the township and the state.
“DHS’s plans were always illegal: the Roxbury warehouse is a logistics center fit for packages, not thousands of people, and did nothing to make New Jersey safer,” Sherrill and Davenport said. “In fact, we told them it would have devastating impacts on the water and sewage systems, and compromise an environmentally sensitive area.”
“This isn’t a partisan issue and we’re grateful for our partnership with the Roxbury community as we keep DHS’s feet to the fire to ensure this facility is never opened,” they said.
